The Sharks bid to kick start their United Rugby Championship on Friday when they take on the Dragons in Newport

Dragons v Sharks, Friday 3rd October, Newport, KO 21:05 (South African time)

Referee: Fillipo Russo (Italy)
Assistant referees: Ben Whitehouse (Wales), Lucas Yendle (Wales)
TMO: Stefano Roscini (Italy)

Weather Forecast - Newport

Dragons:

The Dragons started their tournament away to Ulster and they finished beaten 42-21. They scored 3 tries including 2 in the first 16 minutes through Aaron Wainwright and Jared Rosser whilst Shane Lewis-Hughes went over early in the second half and Tinus de Beer converted all 3.

Early last season the Dragons lost 33-30 to the Sharks in a Round 3 home fixture and a week later they were also edged out by a visiting Lions side 23-19.

After this the Dragons visit Glasgow Warriors before back to back home derby matches against Cardiff and the Ospreys.

In the outright betting to win the URC title the Dragons are 500/1 rank outsiders with Hollywoodbets

Sharks:

The Sharks were missing a whole host of first choice starters for their Round 1 clash with the Warriors in Glasgow. The Warriors were supported into -20.5 favourites (from -12.5) on the back of the team news and they eventually came out on top 35-19. The Sharks, who were very much in the contest until the later stages, scored 3 tries (Edwill van der Merwe, Vincent Tshituka and Lukhanyo Am) whilst conceding 5 and they left Scotland empty handed.

After this the Sharks head to Leinster and they return home for a Round 4 clash with Ulster.

In the outright betting to win the URC title the Sharks are 8/1 shots with Hollywoodbets

Team News

Dragons: 15 Angus O’Brien (cc), 14 Rio Dyer, 13 Fetuli Paea, 12 Aneurin Owen, 11 Fine Inisi, 10 Tinus de Beer, 9 Rhodri Williams, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Shane Lewis-Hughes, 6 Ryan Woodman, 5 Ben Carter (cc), 4 Matthew Screech, 3 Rob Hunt, 2 Brodie Coghlan, 1 Wyn Jones
Replacements: 16 Oli Burrows, 17 Rodrigo Martinez, 18 Chris Coleman, 19 Levi Douglas, 20 Harri Keddie, 21 Che Hope, 22 Harri Ackerman, 23 Huw Anderson

Sharks: 15 Edwill van der Merwe, 14 Phiko Sobahle, 13 Jurenzo Julius, 12 Lukhanyo Am, 11 Christie Grobbelaar, 10 Jean Smith, 9 Jaden Hendrikse, 8 Vincent Tshituka (captain), 7 Manu Tshituka, 6 Phepsi Buthelezi, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Deon Slabbert, 3 Ruan Dreyer, 2 Fez Mbatha, 1 Simphiwe Matanzima.
Replacements: 16 Eduan Swart, 17 Cameron Dawson, 18 Cebo Dlamini, 19 Bathobele Hlekani, 20 Nick Hatton, 21 Ross Braude, 22 Francois Venter, 23 Hakeem Kunene

The Betting,

Average early show, to be updated

Dragons +4.5 points at 9/10

Sharks -4.5 points at 9/10

Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.

This Weeks Bets

Brent Graham's betting angle and plays for Week 6 of the Rugby Championship will be posted on this Blog.

Likewise we will use this blog for tips the second round of the URC.

Finally, all this week's rugby tips from members of the Goodforthegame community can be found on the weekly rugby thread on our brand new discussion forum. If you haven't done so already, register a forum account here.

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